Career Advice
by iris129
Summary: Ron finds an ingenious way to choose his major. College!AU


**Disclaimer: No offence to business majors. Or government majors.**

"Okay, Harry. I'm going to do it."

"Right."

"This is it, mate. The decision I make here today will define my life forever."

"Okay."

"Remember this day, Harry. Friday, October 18 at-" Ron checked his watch with a look of utmost concentration on his face. Harry grinned. "11:02 p.m. No, wait. It's now 11:03. Or actually at whatever time Hermione gets here."

And as luck would have it, at that exact moment there was a knock on the door, and a feminine voice that was clearly out of breath called out, "I'm here! Let me in!"

Harry stood up from his bed and opened the door, and a winded and anxious Hermione rushed in, saying, "What's going on? Is someone hurt?"

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, beaming at his girlfriend from his space on the floor. "You're finally here!"

"Ron! What's the emergency, what-" She stopped to look at the bottle on the floor that was a third of the way empty and at the empty shot glass next to her boyfriend, who was still looking up at her with a grin. "Are you drunk!?"

"No!"

"Yes," Harry said at the same time. Ron shot a glare in his direction, then looked up at Hermione with the most innocent expression he could muster.

"He's lying, he is. You shouldn't believe anything he says. The traito-"

"Is this what the big emergency is!? You wanted me to drink with you? I was scared to death!" Hermione's voice rose in pitch and her eyes flashed in anger, and if that look was directed at him, Harry would have jumped out the window already in order to escape.

"No! And anyway, you wouldn't want to drink this. It's nasty. I think it's supposed to be some type of tequila?" Ron picked up the bottle and squinted at it.

"Why are you drinking it then?" Hermione yelled.

"Well, I nicked it from Charlie's last weekend, and I didn't have time to look through his stuff. And I don't have a mixer right now, so." He shrugged and began to pour out another shot.

"What? No, you don't have to drink it at all, Ron."

Harry stifled a laugh again, this time at the way Hermione had been so quickly distracted by her boyfriend's antics. It was only Ron who was able to make her lose focus and distract her this effectively.

"Wait, so what's going on, then?" she asked, remembering what she was here for. "You said it was life or death." This time, her glare turned to Harry, and he held up his hands in a "don't shoot the messenger" position.

"Hey, don't look at me. It was all him." Not even twenty minutes earlier, Ron had sent her a series of text messages then taken Harry's phone and sent more messages to Hermione including "COME QUICK", "IT'S LIFE OR DEATH", and "WE NEED YOU NOW".

"Right!" Ron said, and jumped up with an impressive amount of grace. He snatched up the notebook from his bed that he had been writing in and mumbling about for the past five hours. "You were summoned for what is probably one of the most important decisions of my life. Tonight, we will determine my entire future." He handed her the notebook with utmost care, as if he were handing her a baby. She snatched it up angrily.

"Computer science, communication, engineering, economics, radio and media… Ron! Are these all majors!?" she yelled.

"Yup."

"You told me you'd decided on business a week ago!" Her eyes were accusatory.

"They're all rich snobs, Hermione! I'm not a rich snob," Ron said defensively. This time, Harry did laugh.

"Ron," Hermione said, almost pleadingly. She looked down at the notebook again. "The deadline is at midnight! And there's ten majors on here!" Her voice had taken on a panicked tone. "How are we supposed to pick one in time?"

Ron grinned at her. "I have a plan." He walked five steps back to his desk and grabbed a pair of scissors and a cup. "It's fool-proof."

"What? What are you-" When he began to individually cut out each major he had written, Hermione's eyes widened in realization. "Oh. Oh no."

Harry was grinning like a maniac now. "Oh yes."

"Ron, you can't leave your career up to chance!" Harry laughed again at her horrified expression. "And why are you supporting this?"

Harry shrugged. "I mean, it's not like he has much of a choice right now. Deadline to declare is in-" He looked at his watch. "Fifty-one minutes."

She fixed her attention back to her boyfriend. "Did you even look through the pamphlets for all the different majors that I gave you? Did you go to academic advising?"

"I did!" Ron defended himself, continuing to cut out the majors. "I did all of that and I was still just as conflicted as when I first applied to Uni." He paused and leaned down to pick up the shot he had poured out earlier.

"What about the pro and con lists?"

"Did them."

"And did you talk to your brothers?"

"Yes."

"Ron! You can't make this decision like this! This is your entire future!"

"I know!" He folded up the last piece of paper and put it in the cup. "I know it's not ideal. Do you think I want to do this? Why do you think I'm drunk off my arse right now? I don't know what else to do!"

He ran a hand through his hair and continued. "You've known what you've wanted to study since you were eight, Hermione. And you're brilliant at it! You're going to graduate with honors, top of the class and with half of the majors this school has to offer." He smiled at her, and she blushed. Hermione was currently a pre-law student majoring in government. And sociology. With a minor in criminal justice. And a certificate in government. "You're going to be the best civil rights attorney in the country." She smiled at him too, and suddenly they were looking at each other with the sappiest looks Harry had ever seen and leaning in towards each other and-

"No sex with your roommate in the room!" Harry shouted suddenly and they broke apart.

"We weren't going to!" Hermione shouted, but she was blushing profusely.

Ron rolled his eyes, but he was blushing as well. "Anyway. And Harry has this whole inspirational story about how this police officer named Angry Eye said he would be the best police officer alive and give the most parking tickets in history."

"Okay, his nickname was Mad-Eye Moody, and he said that I'd be an asset to the MI6 and that I should go into criminal justice," Harry clarified with a mock glare. Ron grinned at him to let him know he was joking and not actually mocking his dreams.

"The point is," he continued. "You guys have known what you wanted to do for a while. And I don't. There's nothing I'm good at-"

Both Harry and Hermione began to protest at once.

"That's not-"

"Hey, don't-"

"Okay, okay," Ron said, holding his hands up. "I'm good at some stuff. But there's nothing I'm passionate about. I don't have a life-long ambition like you two. Or at least nothing that I've found yet." He held out the cup. "What I do have is a list of possible careers that I could see myself doing. That I'd probably be decent at, and that pay fairly well, and that I'd be content with. And I mean, it's just a job right? As long as I like it, I don't have to _love _it, do I? I mean, I can be passionate about other stuff, right? Like, helping out family and friends and making sure they're happy. Right?"

Hermione leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "There's nothing wrong with that, Ron. And besides, you don't have to stick with whatever you choose today for the rest of your life. You can change your mind later if you want."

Ron smiled at her and gave her a small peck on the lips. Harry groaned, and Ron had the decency to look sheepish. He quickly cleared his throat and said, "What about you, mate? Any final objections?"

"Hey, you know I support you no matter what." Ron grinned at him and then took a deep breath. "Okay. Maybe one more drink for luck?"

"No!"

"You're running out of time!"

"Okay fine!" He covered the top of the cup with one hand. "Harry, drum roll please." Harry obliged and began to tap on the wall.

Ron shook the cup for a few seconds, then pulled out a small piece of paper. Both Harry and Hermione leaned in eagerly as he unfolded it.

"Well, what does it say?" Hermione asked impatiently.

Ron held up the paper with a blank look on his face. "Government." He was quiet for a second, then said, "Okay. If that's what the universe decrees. I can work with that." He smiled up at them. "Hey, we'll all be in similar fields, right? Hermione, maybe we'll take classes together! Although, I don't want to go to law school. But it's fine, there's other jobs you can get with a government degree, right?"

"You hate it, don't you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I do," Ron said and began shaking the cup again.

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